Duke Office of Health Professions Advising



Duke Pre-Pharmacy Guide:Preparation for the Pharm.D. DegreeTable of ContentsUndergraduate Timeline…………………………………………………………….2What is Pre-Pharmacy?..................................................................4Course Requirements…………………………………………………………………4Extracurriculars………………………………………………………………………….6Gaining Pharmacy Experience……………………………………………………7Summer Experiences………………………………………………………………….8PCAT…………………………………………………………………………………………..8Personal Statement……………………………………………………………………9Recommendations……………………………………………………..…………….10Committee Letter……………………………………………………………………..11PharmCAS (Pharmacy School Application)…………………………………12Supplemental Applications……………………………………………………….13Multiple Mini Interview ….…………………………………………….….………13Other Resources and Appendices………………………………………………14Created by Rachel James, PharmD (Duke T’14), January 2014Updates by Carolyn Rath (T’16); Catherine Sun (T’17); Prarthana Minasandram (T’18); Cindy Broderius, Office of Health Professions AdvisingUndergraduate Timeline: Plan Ahead!Freshman YearBegin taking pre-health courses. Start with chemistry courses, either Gen Chem I or Organic Chemistry I, and ideally, take a chemistry course both semesters. This will also help you realize early on if the arduous course load isn’t for you.Attend pre-health orientation programs, keeping in mind that these are heavily geared toward pre-medical students.Meet with the pre-pharmacy advisor, Ms. Cindy Broderius, and discuss your proposed career path. She will help you connect with other Duke pre-pharmacy students and shadowing opportunities at Duke Hospital.Seek out relevant extracurricular activities such as science-based clubs, and look for opportunities in which you feel you could develop leadership competencies.Begin thinking about 3 to 5 pharmacy schools of interest and start researching prerequisites for those schools. While core courses may be similar across schools, prerequisites vary widely. This research can give you an early idea of the “must-take” prerequisites most schools on your list require. You should start planning early, especially if you want to study abroad.Start looking for summer experiences toward the end of fall semester/beginning of spring semester and apply early.If it fits in your schedule, look for an on-campus position in a laboratory or in the hospital, where you can gain research or healthcare experience.Summer after Freshman YearParticipate in a meaningful summer experience. Consider also shadowing or volunteering in a healthcare field as time allows.Or, take a summer course and work. This may be especially necessary if you plan to study abroad.Sophomore YearIf you haven’t already, start laying out a plan of courses for the rest of your undergraduate career (DukeHub course planning tools). Make sure you can sufficiently spread out your prerequisites, so that you aren’t overwhelmed in any one semester.Declare your major in the spring before Spring Break (note: the chemistry minor is basically a given for any pre-health student).Continue researching pharmacy schools you would be interested in attending, expanding your list to 4 to 8 schools. Again, be aware that each school has its own specific list of prerequisites (some may not accept AP credit for certain courses), so make sure your schedule can accommodate these additional prerequisites.Keep track of ALL your experiences – note dates and hours of shadowing, meaningful interactions with providers and patients, and interesting stories that can be used later on in your application. Reflect on what was meaningful about your experiences and why.Summer after Sophomore YearAgain, participate in a relevant and meaningful summer experience. Consider working as a pharmacy technician and earn your Certified Pharmacy Technician certificate. If you need to work elsewhere or can’t find a pharmacy-related job, seek out volunteering and shadowing experiences in your free time.Try to make connections with people at the pharmacy schools on your list, either Duke alums, admissions personnel, or pharmacy student groups. Contact the schools’ admissions offices with course prerequisite questions to make sure you are on track with your course planning, plan for tours of their pharmacy schools, etc.Junior YearBegin brainstorming about your personal statement. Keep track of any meaningful experiences that could be your “hook” at the beginning of the statement.Double check that your courses fulfill all the prerequisites, and plan for any special prerequisites for specific schools on your list.Begin studying for the PCAT, either on your own or through a study program (Kaplan, Princeton Review, etc.)Take the PCAT, either in January before spring semester, or June/July after the end of the school year.Ask faculty/work supervisors/pharmacists/volunteer coordinators for letters of recommendation toward the end of spring semester. Note to recommenders that you are applying for a Pharm.D., not a Ph.D.In the spring, complete HPA’s “Intent to Apply” for the Duke committee letter and complete the the pharmacy-specific Application Review process with Cindy. NOTE: not all pharmacy schools require or even accept a committee letter, so be sure to review letter requirements for your schools.Write a first draft of your personal statement before the end of the semester.Summer after Junior Year (not taking a gap year)Start entering information in your PharmCAS application as early as possible – PharmCAS usually opens in early June. Submit your application as soon as possible.Work on supplemental applications after completing PharmCAS. Note that some schools require you to be invited to complete these, while others have them immediately available on their website.Senior YearComplete supplemental applications, if not already completed. Watch deadlines for supplemental applications for schools on your list.Attend interviews at schools that invite you to interview. NOTE: you will be responsible travel and accommodations expenses.Find out about your acceptance(s) by May of spring semester.After receiving acceptances, begin gathering the required health documents and complete all the immunization requirements before the stated deadline for your pharmacy school. Summer after Senior YearPrepare to start your next four years of pharmacy school!NOTE: if you decide to apply to pharmacy schools the summer after you graduate from Duke, all of your timelines, e.g. Intent to Apply, Application Review, PCAT, and PharmCAS, will shift to your senior year and you will take a gap year before you begin pharmacy school.Aspects of Pre-PharmacyWhat is Pre-Pharmacy?The pre-pharmacy track is the one you want to follow if you’d like to go to pharmacy school, in order to pursue a career as a pharmacist. It is important to note that the Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) is its own professional degree, and is distinct from a Ph.D. in Pharmacology, for example. Pursuing a Pharm.D. could lead you to a variety of careers, such as becoming a community, hospital, or nuclear pharmacist. A Pharm.D. can be attained in six years if a student begins the program directly after high school. However, some pharmacy schools require or prefer a bachelor’s degree, so it is not a waste of time to earn your bachelor’s degree here at Duke before applying to pharmacy school.The Pharmacy Is Right for Me website, published by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, is very thorough in its explanation of the profession, and could help you answer questions you may have about going into the field of pharmacy: Course RequirementsCourse requirements for pharmacy schools can differ greatly. However, nearly every pharmacy school will require:2 general chemistry courses (with lab)2 organic chemistry courses (with lab)2 biology courses (with lab)1 calculus course1 statistics course2 English/writing courses1-2 anatomy and/or physiology courses (with lab)1 microbiology and/or 1 biochemistry courseOther commonly required courses include macro- or microeconomics, public speaking, psychology, or social science; more advanced biology courses are occasionally also required. Some pharmacy schools also have a very specific set of electives they’d like you to fulfill. Note when looking at course requirements that 1 unit at Duke counts for 3 or 4 credits/semester hours at schools using the credit/semester hour system.Again, these requirements differ from school to school. Be sure to check which schools require which courses; depending on your preference of schools, it may be strategic to consider applying to schools with similar course prerequisites. The American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) provides a comprehensive and up-to-date spreadsheet containing each school’s prerequisites here: In addition, PharmCAS maintains the PharmD School Directory, a database containing general information about each school (including course prerequisites) that can be helpful when deciding which pharmacy schools to apply to. Access the database here: If you choose not to study abroad, it should be easy to fit all of these requirements into your schedule; in fact, you should rarely have to take more than one or two of these courses at a time. If you choose to study abroad, you may have to double up on science courses or take some classes over the summer, but this is definitely still possible. Just be sure to get started as early as possible—planning is key!Some of the “Tricky” PrerequisitesPublic Speaking/Debate: Duke offers a public speaking class in Public Policy (PUBPOL 182). The class is quite popular, so it might be hard to get in as a freshman or sophomore. It is also offered as a 4-week course during the summer, which is much easier to get into.Micro/macroeconomics: Some pharmacy schools may accept your AP credit in Economics for this requirement. Duke’s gateway economics courses are intense and may be too much work to add on to the science prerequisites you are already taking, so consider taking Economics at a community college or another university during the summer. Some pharmacy schools may require specifically micro or macro-economics—make sure you take the right course!Human Anatomy/Physiology: Most pharmacy schools require some sort of Human Anatomy/Physiology course or sequence of courses. Some schools require only a general Physiology course, while others specifically require a Human Anatomy/Physiology course with lab, while still others require a two-semester sequence of Human A/P. The most surefire way to ensure that you meet these requirements is to check the prerequisite course listings of the pharmacy schools on your application list as early as possible in your pre-pharmacy journey. Duke alums share advice:However, here’s one important tidbit: DON’T PANIC if it seems you’re running out of time to complete the Human A/P requirement, or any other pharmacy prerequisite for that matter. There are many options available to you to get these courses done if you are not able to take them at Duke, including online courses (if approved by your respective pharmacy school), summer courses at a different institution, or a post-baccalaureate program at a different institution if you’re taking a gap year before pharmacy school. One more tip – it would be helpful to take a Human A/P course before taking the PCAT, since this information is included in the Biology section of the test. While it is totally possible to self-study the Human A/P info for the PCAT, it’s much easier to simply refresh what you’ve already learned in class before the exam.To fulfill the Human A/P requirement during your Duke years, here are some course options to consider:a. Duke course: EVANTH 330 – Human Anatomy and Physiology HAS NO LAB? While this course covers content including both Human Anatomy and Physiology, there is no lab currently associated with the course (as of Spring 2019). Unless your pharmacy schools do not require lab with your Human A/P course, this is NOT the course for you!b. Duke course: EVANTH 333L – The Human Body, with lab? Generally offered every summer at Duke; not difficult to get a spot during summer? Generally offered at least one semester per academic year at Duke; difficult to secure a spot during the semester due to high interest from pre-med seniors; the best approach is to politely and persistently contact the professor to explain that you need the course for PCAT preparation and pharmacy school admissions? This course is strictly an anatomy course, and does not include a physiology component; you would need to take a Human Physiology course.? If you’re thinking of taking two separate classes to count for the Human A/P requirement, make sure to check with your prospective pharmacy schools to see if those courses would meet their requirementsc. UNC course: BIOL 252 – Fundamentals of Human Anatomy and Physiology, with lab? In the case that Duke courses in Human A/P are not available when you hope to take them, you can set up an Interinstitutional Agreement through Duke-UNC in order to take this course at UNC-Chapel Hill? Note from UNC website: “This course may not satisfy the requirements of non-UNC professional programs that require 2 semesters of A&P”; thus, if you were to take this course, you might still need to take another anatomy and physiology course at Duke or another institution depending on your list of pharmacy schools. ? If you take this course with Dr. Johnson at UNC, all the lectures are recorded and posted online, which would save you some trouble from having to commute to UNC when the semester starts getting busy. However, there might be a participation component to your grade based on the Poll Everywhere question that goes live during lectures.ExtracurricularsThe amount of extracurricular activities that Duke offers can be overwhelming. It can be hard to figure out which activities will be the best fit for you, especially during your first year. However, the best thing to do is dive in! Go to the Activities Fair at the beginning of the year and listen to each club’s pitch. Choose a few things that match your interests and try them out – clubs know that not everyone who comes to the first meeting will eventually become a member of the executive board. It’s okay to explore!As far as pharmacy school goes, admissions officers will want to see relevance, leadership, and commitment. “Relevance” means that you have supplemented your pre-pharmacy academic preparations with some activities that align with your interest in pharmacy. This may mean joining the Duke Pre-Pharmacy Union, tutoring younger students in math or science, or volunteering in some kind of health-related or community service opportunity.Leadership will be an important quality to demonstrate in your application. When you are looking for extracurricular activities, consider whether each group seems like somewhere that you would have the opportunity to grow as a leader. Some clubs make it very easy to move up in rank to a named position, while others may provide smaller but more frequent opportunities for leadership. It may also be beneficial to continue with an activity you did in high school, such as Relay for Life or club sports.Finally, it’s good to show commitment to a few activities, rather than spreading yourself too thin. If you find an activity you enjoy, try to stay active throughout your undergraduate career and demonstrate sustained commitment.Gaining Pharmacy ExperienceGaining pharmacy experience is a very important part of your preparation for pharmacy school. Pharmacy schools will want to see that you have spent significant time in and around the healthcare field and in pharmacies specifically; this shows that you know a great deal about the profession you want to join and that you are making an informed decision to become a pharmacist. Pharmacy experience will also give you much more to talk about in your personal statement and during interviews. In addition, you’ll want to get to know at least one pharmacist for when the time comes to ask for letters of recommendation!Ideally, you should try to shadow in a number of different types of pharmacy settings. At a minimum, try to experience a community pharmacy (both independent and chain, if possible) and a hospital (inpatient) pharmacy. Other possibilities include shadowing the critical care pharmacist in the hospital ICU or learning about the responsibilities of a nuclear pharmacist. Finding these opportunities will depend on you making connections with people in the healthcare field. Don’t be afraid to ask people if they’ll allow you to shadow them – most are more than willing! You may need to go through prescribed training modules to gain clearance for shadowing, especially in larger hospitals like Duke Hospital. Contact Cindy to arrange shadowing opportunities with pharmacists in Duke Hospital.If you’re not sure what questions to ask the pharmacist while shadowing, here’s a list of potential questions: a) what led you to pursue a career as a pharmacist? b) how do you spend your time doing the various parts of your job, e.g. patient contact, paperwork, consultations, etc.? c) what about your career do you find most satisfying/rewarding?d) what advice would you give me at this point? Think: what do I want to know about this person’s work that will help me prepare and/or make a decision about pursuing this career?In North Carolina, you can work as a pharmacy technician without being certified, so applying to retail pharmacy technician positions is a good way to start gaining pharmacy experience. Working in a pharmacy will also help you tremendously on the pharmacy technician certification exam—getting your pharmacy technician license (CPhT) may allow you to have a bit more freedom when shadowing or volunteering. For example, some independent community pharmacies and the VA Medical Center across Erwin Road from Duke may allow you to volunteer as a pharmacy technician while shadowing, making the experience even more worthwhile for both of you. You can find information about becoming a certified pharmacy technician on this website: See Appendix 1 for examples of questions that may be asked during an interview for a pharmacy technician position.Summer ExperiencesOne thing to immediately note is that it’s never too early to start searching for a summer experience. Many programs start posting applications for the following summer as early as October of fall semester. Start looking around this time to get an idea of what may be out there. This website () is one of the most comprehensive listings of summer opportunities across the country, and has up to this point stayed relatively updated for each summer. You can also try looking up opportunities at specific universities and pay attention to the pre-health announcement emails that the HPA sends out every week. Keep in mind that many of these opportunities will ask for letters of reference from professors, and you may need to ask for these early in the preceding spring semester.The specific type of summer experience does not necessarily matter, as long as it is worthwhile and meaningful to you. If you have to work at an unrelated summer job, try to do some shadowing in your free time. If you have a choice of jobs, try to find something in the healthcare industry, particularly pharmacy technology if possible. If you are looking at internships, many biology and chemistry research positions are applicable to pharmacology and/or pharmacy and will be an asset to your application.Preparing Your Pharmacy School ApplicationPCATThe PCAT (Pharmacy College Admissions Test) is the standardized test required for admission to nearly all pharmacy schools (California schools are some of the only exceptions). The PCAT includes 5 subtests: Writing, Biological Processes, Chemical Processes, Critical Reading, and Quantitative Reasoning. Each subtest is scored out of 600, and your composite score is also out of 600. However, PCAT scores tend to be reported based on your percentile rank, from 1 to 99 (how well you did compared to a subset of others taking the test).Although it sounds like science is a minor part of the overall test, the Biology and Chemistry sections will be very important to study for. Certain subjects within these sections, such as organic chemistry or anatomy, are very specific and will require significant review, especially if you have not taken a class on those subjects recently.One helpful recommendation is to treat studying for the PCAT as a “fifth class”, on top of your normal four-course load. Because it can be difficult to devote an appropriate amount of time to your studying, a study class can often be helpful. Kaplan provides a number of options for study courses, depending on your preference for in-person vs. online and your schedule flexibility. If registering for one of their classes, be sure to watch for specials and discounts – for example, if you take their free practice PCAT before registering, you earn $100 off toward any class. Kaplan’s PCAT page is here: Self-study materials can also be helpful, if you have confidence in your ability to maintain a study schedule. Companies such as Kaplan and Princeton Review publish study books for less than $50 that are updated each year. The PCAT’s format was changed significantly in 2012 – for instance, plant biology was removed and distributions of questions were changed, so try to get a recent study book that reflects the updated test. Another popular study guide is Dr. Collins PCAT Self Study Course. It costs $235 (August 2019) but you should be able to find used or older versions on Amazon. See Appendix 2 for much PCAT preparation wisdom from Duke alums!PCAT test dates tend to be clustered in a few months of each year. July, September, and January are the most common times to take the exam. It’s best to choose an approximate test date first, and structure your study schedule around this. For example, if you choose to take the PCAT in January of your junior year, you should spend at least the second half of fall semester, as well as much of winter break, preparing. If you choose to take the test in July after your junior year, spend the second half of spring semester and the beginning of your summer preparing. PCAT scheduling strategy from a Duke alum:Based on what I’ve read, most schools prefer that you take the PCAT the July of the year you apply. So, if you want to submit your application in August-October of a particular year, you would aim take the PCAT in July of that same year. Luckily, you get your preliminary score report printed as soon as you’re finished with the exam, so if you do need to re-take it, you can immediately sign up for the September PCAT date. Keep in mind that you may have to pay a late fee for September registration if this is the case. Also, your official PCAT Test Scores will arrive 5 weeks after your test date. The percentile scores are almost always the same as your preliminary score report, but your official score report will have your writing score included, too. Prarthana Minasandram (T’18)Signing up for the PCAT requires several steps: you’ll first have to open an account on and then register for a specific date, time, and testing center through Pearson’s website. Be sure to read all of the information on the PCAT website before registering – it contains a lot of hints about how to prepare, what to bring to the test, etc.When you sign up and designate the schools that you want your scores to be sent to, make sure to include PharmCAS (see p.12) as one of these (code 104). If you send your score to PharmCAS, it can be sent from there to all of the pharmacy schools that participate in PharmCAS, lowering your fees dramatically. You do not need to designate both PharmCAS and the individual schools, as long as they participate in PharmCAS! If you plan to apply to schools that do not participate in PharmCAS, be sure to designate their school codes when you sign up as well.Personal StatementIt’s a good idea to start thinking about your personal statement early. Admissions officers read thousands of these, and it can be hard to make yours unique, so you’ll want to start brainstorming some experiences you’ve had that could be transformed into compelling stories.The PharmCAS personal statement can be a maximum of 4500 characters (note that this is less than the 5300 characters that AMCAS allows for pre-meds!). The guidelines for the essay are as follows (as of 2019): “Your Personal Essay should address why you selected pharmacy as a career and how the Doctor of Pharmacy degree relates to your immediate and long-term professional goals. Describe how your personal, educational, and professional background will help you achieve your goals. The personal essay is an important part of your application for admission and provides you with an opportunity for you to clearly and effectively express your ideas.”You’ll most likely want to have a draft of your personal statement done sometime during the spring semester of your junior year. This will give you plenty of time to write several drafts. Let as many people read it as possible! You don’t have to take everyone’s advice, but each person will pick out different things that you may not have noticed about your grammar or content. At the same time, try not to get too attached to your first draft, as you will probably need to make lots of changes before you submit. Proofreading is especially important for this part of your application!Personal statements have been addressed extensively across the web. Basically, you want your essay to read as uniquely yours, and you want your readers to know very explicitly why you want to become a pharmacist, without feeling like they are simply reading your resume. Begin with this site for some good advice to get you started: sure to utilize the Writing Studio at Duke to assist with personal statement development and editing.RecommendationsAs early as possible, you’ll want to start thinking about who may be able to write strong letters of recommendation on your behalf. You may connect well with a professor during your freshman or sophomore year, but if you don’t keep in touch, it will be hard for that person to write you a good letter of recommendation when the time comes. At the same time, professors who you’ve only had for a class in the spring of your junior year may not feel they know you well enough to write an effective letter.PharmCAS allows a maximum of four letters of recommendation to be uploaded with your application. Occasionally, some schools you apply to may ask for extra letters to be sent directly to them, but the vast majority should accept at least some of the four that you upload.The strongest set of letters will be from a variety of people in your life. Usually the only people that are prohibited from writing letters of reference are family, friends, and occasionally, politicians or clergy. For pharmacy school, it’s best to have at least one letter from a science professor, and at least one from a pharmacist with whom you’ve worked. Other letters may be from a work supervisor or a professor of another subject. If you choose to get a Duke committee letter, be aware that this will count as one of your four letters that can be uploaded. Check the PharmCAS School Pages to see which of the schools you are applying to will accept a committee letter.When it comes time to ask for the letters, you should be extremely prepared. It’s recommended that you compile a folder for your references (either physically or electronically) with information about you that will make the letter writing process as easy as possible. Include a cover letter, addressed personally to the reference, that thanks them for their help and outlines some themes of your application.With the cover letter, include a copy of your resume or CV and a copy of your most recent draft of your personal statement. You may have other things, such as a recent publication, that could be included alongside these other documents. Keep in mind that if you are asking very far ahead of time, references may lose track of these documents, so be prepared to re-send them closer to the letter deadline if necessary. Make sure you mention explicitly to each reference that you are applying to a Pharm.D. program, and not a Ph.D. program – many faculty do not know the difference and will use them interchangeably, so be sure they understand your plans before they write you a letter!As far as timing goes, you should probably ask for the letters toward the end of the spring semester of your junior year. You could also wait until the summer, but keep in mind that you will most likely have to do all of your correspondence via phone or email, and this gives the letter writers less time before the deadline. AND letter writers may be gone or busy during the summer! Choose a deadline for your references and stick to it. This should be a date right around when you plan to e-submit your PharmCAS application, so that you can make sure everything is complete before you submit. PharmCAS will send your application on to pharmacy schools even before they receive all of your letters of reference, but it provides some peace of mind to know that all parts of your application are being submitted simultaneously. Sometime in July is probably a good deadline for your letter writers, especially if you want to submit your PharmCAS application and get started on your supplemental applications before the fall semester of your senior year.PharmCAS requires that your references submit their letters directly to the PharmCAS website. This is because of the questionnaire that references are asked to complete before uploading their letter, which asks questions about how they know you and their confidence in your competency and candidacy. Because references need to fill this out personally, the process is much more streamlined if you simply wait until the PharmCAS application has opened. Once this occurs, you can enter each reference’s name, email, and phone number in your PharmCAS account. When you submit this information, PharmCAS automatically sends the reference an email, inviting them to complete their letter of reference. You will be able to see whether they have opened the application, and the date when they have completed and uploaded the letter. If you choose to obtain a Duke committee letter, this letter will also be uploaded directly to PharmCAS. This will be discussed in the next mittee LetterObtaining a committee letter is a complex but worthwhile process. Duke is a school that is known to emphasize the importance of the committee letter, and some medical schools have been known to ask why you have chosen not to obtain a committee letter if your school offers them. While most pharmacy schools probably will not ask this question, it is a good idea to maximize use of your resources here at Duke.It is recommended that you attend one of the HPA Kick-Off meetings in the fall or winter of your junior year, in order to hear about the timeline of declaring your Intent to Apply for the upcoming application cycle and subsequent request of a committee letter. This form is identical for both pre-medical and pre-pharmacy students, except for the fact that you will clarify that you are applying to pharmacy school and not medical schoolAlthough not required but STRONGLY RECOMMENDED, plan to use the Application Review process, aka “Reviewing My Application” or “RMA”, to essentially write a first draft of your PharmCAS application. Cindy Broderius, the pre-pharmacy advisor, will provide you with the pharmacy-specific version of the RMA form for you to complete. You will submit the completed RMA form, an updated CV or resume, and a draft of your personal statement to her to review in advance of your appointment. At your appointment, you and Cindy will discuss your draft and any feedback. This meeting and your documents will provide content for Cindy to use in writing your committee letter. Follow the same procedures for adding her to your list of references in PharmCAS and she will upload the committee letter directly to PharmCAS. NOTE: the Application Review process and resources are available to pharmacy school applicants regardless of whether you choose to get a Duke committee letter.PharmCAS (Pharmacy School Application)The PharmCAS application opens in June, over a year before your matriculation to pharmacy school. The application cycle is indeed very long, but this doesn’t mean you should put things off! Many pharmacy schools use rolling admissions, so the earlier you finish your application, the sooner it will be reviewed, the sooner you will be interviewed, and the sooner you will hear a decision. If you finish your application early in the cycle, you could ideally start hearing about interviews and possibly even admission decisions before the end of the calendar year.When the application opens, however, it should not create a large amount of additional work! You should be mostly prepared to apply by this point in your undergraduate career, with your personal statement nearly finished, your shadowing experiences recorded, and your extracurricular activities well established—if you complete and discuss the RMA form, you’ll be well on your way. The hardest part of filling out PharmCAS should be the tedium of copying things over from your existing records. Be sure to access the PharmCAS instruction manual to guide you in the process!Once you create your PharmCAS account, you will click “Start Your Application” to begin completing the application, which is divided into three major sections: Personal Information, Academic History, and Supporting Information; and a program-specific section, Program Materials. Each section will include various types of information about you and your application portfolio:? The Personal Information section includes various biographical and demographic information about you and your family.? Academic History is the section where you will list high schools and colleges you attended and copy in all your college coursework and standardized test information. Make sure you have copies of transcripts from any colleges you attended, so you can use them to accurately enter coursework into your PharmCAS application. Rule of thumb: enter coursework information exactly as it appears on your transcript to assist with the PharmCAS verification process! Refer to the PharmCAS instruction manual for specifics on entering coursework, especially for AP or IB credits.? The Supporting Information section includes a variety of information to share with your programs:Evaluation: your list of those individuals who will be writing letters of recommendation for you Experiences: descriptions and details about your experiences, which include: 1) pharmacy experience (pharmacy or pharmacy-related), 2) healthcare experience (paid and unpaid patient engagement), 3) employment (paid or volunteer work outside the healthcare field), and 4) extracurricular activities (related activities you would want your selected programs to review, e.g. community service, leadership, research, Duke Pre-Pharmacy Union membership or leadership, etc.). Achievements: honors, publications, and scholarships. “Honors” and “scholarships” could include things like a dean’s list honor, or an honor given to selected students within your department, for example. For the “Publications” section, include any publication on which you are listed as an author.License or Certification: e.g. certified pharmacy technician, EMT, etc.Personal Statement: see p. 9 for comments? The Program Materials section is specific to the programs you selected in the Add Programs section of your application. These programs may ask for additional information or provide additional questions for you to answer.All of these sections are explained in great detail in the PharmCAS FAQs and the PharmCAS instructions – be sure to refer to these resources as you complete your application.Supplemental ApplicationsAfter you complete and e-submit your PharmCAS application, immediately start looking into supplemental applications. Contrary to popular belief, not all pharmacy schools require you to be invited to complete the supplemental applications. Instead, many schools make the application publicly available and ask every applicant to complete it. Check the PharmCAS School Pages for each school you applied to in order to determine the process each school uses. If the supplemental application is immediately available, the link will most likely be given on the PharmCAS School Page.Most schools ask you to create an account on their website in order to complete the supplemental application, so make sure to keep track of your username and password for each of the schools. Schools use supplemental applications for a variety of reasons – some use it as part of the evaluation process, while others may just use it to confirm that you meet their health and academic requirements. Be prepared to write at least one additional essay, in most cases, and pay attention to character limits, as they vary widely from school to school.Supplemental applications have an additional fee, on top of the fee you pay PharmCAS to have your application sent. You may be asked to pay this fee before or after completing the supplemental application. Deadlines for these applications range from November to March, but again, it is to your advantage to submit these as early as possible, especially at schools with rolling admissions. Once these are submitted, you’ll just be waiting to hear back about interviews and acceptance decisions!Multiple Mini InterviewMany pharmacy schools are following the lead of medical schools and adopting the Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) as their primary in-person interview method. While this format may seem new and daunting, it can actually be quite fun and a chance to show several different evaluators who you are and what you can bring to the table. There are many resources online to help you prepare for the MMI, including videos and practice questions. Here are some resources to get you started:McGill MMI FAQ Sheet: McGill MMI Practice Scenarios: U.S. News and World Report (note the four types of MMI scenarios described in this article): addition, it’s important to check the admissions websites of the pharmacy schools at which you will interview for information about the MMI procedures at that institution. While there is a general format for MMIs, schools differ in their processes, number of interview stations, and types of questions asked. Checking the websites beforehand can give you a better idea of what to expect on interview day.See Appendix 3 for great Duke alum advice on preparing for MMIs!ResourcesAmerican Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) Pharmacy Is Right for Me (published by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, the website is thorough in its explanation of the profession) AACP Pharmacy School Admission Requirements (PSAR) Pharmacy College Admission Test (PCAT) PharmCAS School Pages (provides very specific information directly from each pharmacy school) Preparing to Apply (this section of the PharmCAS website provides general information about the pharmacy profession and guidance on how to best prepare for the PharmCAS admissions process) PharmCAS Help Pages (almost any question you have about applying is answered here) UNC course conversion database (converts courses from any school to the equivalent UNC course) AppendicesAppendix 1—Preparing for a Pharmacy Tech job interviewHere are some questions that you may be asked at job interviews for a pharmacy technician position:What do you know about the values of CVS/Walgreens/Rite Aid/etc.? Why do you want to be a pharmacy technician?Have you worked in retail before?What are your long-term goals?What is an example of a time you have worked in a team setting? How do you handle situations where other individuals in a team do not pull their weight?Tell me about a time you’ve gone out of your way to help someone.Can you think of a time when you’ve ever had to bend the rules for a customer or a friend?How have you dealt with unhappy customers or people in the past? It is also always good to have some questions ready for the interviewers! Some good questions could be to ask what is expected of you day to day, how many scripts are typically filled each week, what the training process is like, and what the pay rate is. I made the mistake of not asking my hourly rate and only found out after getting my first paycheck because I was too embarrassed to ask!Prarthana Minasandram (T’18)Appendix 2 —PCAT Prep Tips from Duke alumsPCAT Prep Advice from Duke alums:From Catherine Sun (T’17):I personally used Dr. Collins’ materials and Kaplan’s book to study for the PCAT. Dr. Collins provides a really good review for the subjects and does not go into unnecessary details like other study guides. However, Dr. Collins’ reading and math practice tests, and the passage problems in its biology and chemistry, are easier than those on the actual exam. I would recommend purchasing at least one of Pearson’s Official PCAT Practice Tests and take it after you have reviewed all the materials to get a sense of the difficulty and length of the actual test. From Prarthana Minasandram (T’18):A note moving forward: As of July 2018, the PCAT has been updated so that at least 50% of questions for chemistry and biology are based on reading passages. This roughly translates to 6-7 passages with around 4 questions per passage in the science sections. I recommend reading the question first before reading the passage, as you can often answer the question by looking at the figures and/or tables in the passage. The remaining questions in the science sections will be stand-alone questions, which is simply information recall. Try to spend no more than 30 seconds to 1 minute on these questions. Spend more time on passage-based questions. The passage-based questions are slightly harder and more time consuming when you are required to make inferences. To get a good sense of the topics and questions covered on the PCAT, check out this PCAT blueprint: I agree with Catherine that Dr. Collins is a great resource for the PCAT! It definitely prepares you thoroughly for the chemistry portion of the exam and gives a very good outline of the important information for biology. The math portion has some good word problems and is worth taking a look at, but do not rely only on Dr. Collins for math. Revisit your calculus/pre-calculus/trigonometry notes from high school if you have them! These were much more helpful for me. The critical reading section is not hard enough in Dr. Collins to prepare you for the real test, though it is good to look at a few of the practice reading tests from Dr. Collins to get a sense of the types of questions that will be asked (main idea, author’s bias, inferences, etc.). If you are able to, consider purchasing all 3 available Pearson Practice Exams online, as they are VERY reflective of the difficulty of the PCAT in all subjects. If you purchase all three Pearson tests (around $90), do a little bit of studying before you take the first one. I felt that it was a mistake to the take a practice Pearson PCAT to gauge my starting point because there was so much information I had forgotten! Take some time to review amino acids, organic chemistry reactions, anatomy, cell biology, and microbiology before you take the first Pearson test. This way, the practice exams will be a much more accurate representation of your current knowledge and your future studying can be more directed. You can also purchase practice essay questions from Pearson, but I never did so. However, I do recommend keeping up with the news and politics if you can, as you can often use examples from the news in answering the prompt! The essay question will usually give you a problem and ask you to give solutions to this problem. The best advice I can give is to make sure you have a good thesis statement in your introduction, 2-3 body paragraphs of solutions to the problem, and a concluding paragraph that summarizes the essay. There is no spell-check on the PCAT, so proofread in the last few minutes to catch any spelling mistakes!In terms of other resources for studying, I found that Leah4Sci videos on YouTube were especially helpful in learning tricks for organic chemistry reactions . I would also highly recommend watching her videos on amino acids. I watched the amino acid videos the night before the PCAT, and there were 3 questions on the exam that I was able to answer because of them! Khan Academy has numerous videos for biology and chemistry that were helpful, so definitely take a look at those to clarify specific topics you need a refresher on. Finally, being good at the PCAT means you need to practice good test-taking skills. This will ensure that you are calmer and more prepared on test day. Remember to simulate each practice test well. This means using over-the-ear headphones or earplugs (you are given an option on test-day), taking water/food/bathroom breaks ONLY at the designated 15-minute break, and no erasing work on your unlimited scratch paper. You will not be able to wear a watch, so time yourself on your computer when you take practice tests. The PCAT requires mental and physical stamina, so it is very important that you take full-length practice tests before your test day!Appendix 3—MMI Preparation Mythbusters and MMI Prep TipsMMI Advice from Alums: Carolyn Rath, T’16Myth 1: The MMI is scary! It’s much more high-pressure than a traditional, one-on-one interview.This myth is commonly spread among prospective interviewees for health professions schools, but it’s absolutely not true! The MMI is NOT scary – it can actually be really fun if you are mentally prepared for the process and maintain a positive attitude throughout the experience. Also, this type of interview actually places less pressure on your individual interactions with interviewers. In a one-on-one interview, you truly have one chance to make a good impression and show the interviewer that you are a strong candidate. In an MMI, you have seven or eight chances to do this – just think, at least a few of the MMI interviewers are bound to like you! ? Myth 2: The trick to the MMI is figuring out what the “right” answer is to each scenario. If you don’t get the answer right, you get a lower score.False! The MMI isn’t about coming up with the “right” answer to the scenario posed to you, because there are no right answers! The best approach is to commit yourself to one solution or point of view, and defend your perspective clearly and logically. If and when the interviewer responds with follow-up questions that ask you to reconsider your initial response, remember to stay strong and continue to defend your original perspective. Duke has taught you to think on your feet in order to solve problems quickly AND defend your position – have confidence that you can devise logical answers to any questions posed to you.Myth 3: If an interviewer was not very receptive or did not look happy, I definitely failed that station.The 5-7 minutes you will spend with an MMI interviewer will not represent a typical conversation. When you enter the room after reading the scenario, you will do most of the talking as you present and defend your position. The interviewer may respond with follow-up questions (see Myth 2 for tips about answering these), but for the most part the reins are in your hands! In many cases, MMI interviewers are following a set of rules about how to behave; so while you may see an interviewer as cold, stone-faced, or non-responsive, he or she is most likely just following orders and trying to appear as unbiased as possible (which is difficult, because of course he or she can’t help but love you).Myth 4: You can’t prepare for the MMI interview, because you have no idea what questions you will be asked.WARNING: You will see this type of statement on some pharmacy school admissions pages. What the schools mean by posting this is that you won’t be able to predict exactly what scenarios will be posted at each station. However, just because you don’t know the scenarios doesn’t mean you can’t prepare yourself for the MMI experience! Here are some tips to ensure that you are as ready as can be for this interview format:1. Participate in a mock interview. Going through the physical motions of the MMI will (1) help you to get a feel for the time limits and (2) prevent anxiety or confusion on interview day. You can set up a mock interview with our favorite pre-pharmacy advisor Cindy Broderius (highly recommended), or find an organized MMI mock interview through the UNC Pre-Pharmacy Club or pre-health organizations at Duke. UNC’s SNPhA chapter offers two-day PCAT preparatory review sessions for about $150 where they conduct mock MMI interviews using UNC’s past interview questions. The PCAT review itself is a bit rushed, but their mock interview is a very good practice to prepare you for the actual MMI. 2. Look up practice scenarios online. While it’s highly unlikely that schools will use the same scenarios as those posted on the internet, you can learn more about the types of questions that will be asked on interview day.3. Dig deep into that Duke education! Many MMI questions come in the form of an ethical dilemma to which there is no single or correct response. However, these questions are designed to test your capacity for compassion, empathy, and doing the right thing. Your college education has prepared you to think critically and promote equality, fairness, and following the rules. Your health care experiences have taught you the importance of compassion and protecting patients’ safety and well-being. Draw on these experiences when faced with an ethical dilemma, and you can’t go wrong!4. Practice your communication skills. When you only have 5-7 minutes to convince the interviewer that you are the best future pharmacist that school has ever seen, you have to get straight to the point! It’s important to speak clearly and confidently not only in the MMI, but in any interview format. Pharmacists have to be good communicators, and schools are looking for students who show promise in this arena. Practice eliminating “um”, “like”, “you know?”, etc. from your professional vocabulary.5. Be ready for traditional interview questions. Many schools will throw in a “traditional” station, where they ask questions like: “Why pharmacy?”, “Why our school?”, or “What will you contribute to the field of pharmacy?” You can and should prepare to answer these types of questions! Think of these as “freebies” – you can spend time beforehand crafting beautiful responses, plus you can ask your advisors and friends for feedback in order to perfect your answers.6. Come up with your very own MMI plan, and stick to it.Here’s Carolyn Rath’s MMI preparation plan for interview day:1. Arrive at station. Take a drink of water (carry a water bottle with you to place outside the door at each station) and a few deep breaths to clear mind from previous station.2. Read scenario one time quickly, and then again in more detail. Pick out important points to remember, like the names of the imaginary people in the scenario (this will show that you’re paying attention!).3. Make a mental outline of your argument (you won’t be able to write anything down); include a “thesis statement” and a list of logical supporting points; if there are multiple questions involved, make sure you have answers ready for each of them.4. With remaining time, reread the scenario, plan out a strong introduction, or brainstorm potential follow-up questions the interviewer could ask and how you might respond.5. When the bell rings, enter the room with a HUGE smile and introduce yourself confidently to the interviewer. Time to *dazzle*! ................
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